My journey with ponds goes right back to childhood. My grandad had a pond at the bottom of his garden, and I spent hours down there, completely fascinated—catching frogs and newts and getting my first real taste of what would become a lifelong passion.

As I got older, that love of water and wildlife naturally led me into fishing. I spent most of my school summer holidays by my local pond, rod in hand, happily losing track of time.

Eventually, I built my own pond in my parents’ garden, which kept that interest alive. Years later, in my current garden, I started small again with a simple Butler’s sink water feature. Then one Easter, my mum gifted me two goldfish… and that was the spark that reignited everything.

From that moment on, the passion grew quickly.

I had always wanted to keep koi, but space was limited. That didn’t stop me—I built my first pallet pond, making the most of what I had. But as any koi keeper knows, they don’t stay small for long. Within a year, the fish had grown, and it became clear the pond needed to grow with them.

And that’s where the real journey really began.

As you can imagine, with a bigger pond came more koi… and with more koi came a deeper dive into the hobby.

The more I learned, the more I realised just how much there is to koi keeping. It’s not just a pond and a few fish—it’s water quality, filtration, growth, bloodlines, and a constant drive to improve your setup.

I was fortunate enough to spend a season working at a local koi dealer, which gave me a completely different perspective on the hobby. It opened my eyes to one of the many sides of koi keeping—from selecting fish and understanding quality, to seeing how different systems are run and maintained.

That experience helped shape how I approach my own pond and pushed me to take things to the next level.

My current pond sits at around 5,000l and is filtered using a Nexus 320 system. It’s a pump-fed setup with a retro-fit bottom drain, which has worked well for keeping things clean without a full rebuild. The Nexus also has a built-in 36w UV, helping keep the water clear, especially through the warmer months.

I’m currently running an 8,000 lph pump, dialled back to around 30–50%, which I’ve found gives the perfect balance of flow for my pond. It keeps everything turning over nicely without overworking the system or disturbing the fish.

Like most things in koi keeping, it’s been a case of tweaking and refining over time to find what works best—and this setup has been a solid stepping stone.

Now, as my understanding continues to grow and I’m learning something new every day, I’ve come to truly appreciate the time, skill, and dedication that goes into producing these incredible fish for us all to enjoy.

But now… I’m onto my next build.

What started as a hobby has grown into something much more, and like most koi keepers, I’ve reached that point where the current setup just isn’t enough anymore. The plan now is to build a pond that not only gives the koi more space to grow, but also allows me to put everything I’ve learned into practice.

Like any build, it comes with its challenges, but that’s all part of the journey. And for me… this is that next step.

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